Chelsea residents want the Limelight to stay dark – and they’ve gone to court to keep the new owners of the notorious nightclub from getting a liquor license.

In papers filed in Manhattan Supreme Court yesterday, the residents charge the State Liquor Authority’s decision to grant the Sixth Avenue club a liquor license is “contrary to the public interest, legally erroneous, arbitrary and capricious, [and] an abuse of discretion.”

The suit claims the SLA ignored its own “500-foot rule,” that says there shouldn’t be three or more clubs and liquor stores within 500 feet of each other.

“There are currently 17 liquor licenses within 500 feet of the Limelight, nine of which are clubs,” it charges, noting that the decision also ignored the drug and crime problems the nightspot had under former owner Peter Gatien, and community opposition.